2023 Year in Review
The Prophetic Path
Welcome
From the very beginning, our founder Richard Rohr intended for the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) to be a school for prophets; a place where the contemplative mind and loving action are interwoven. In that spirit, we’re invited to face reality for what it is — and together we will weep, grieve, hope, heal, and stand in solidarity with the suffering of the world. This is the journey of the Prophetic Path.
The Prophetic Path is the theme for our 2023 Year in Review. This theme invites us to stand in solidarity with suffering by not avoiding the pain of the world but turning towards it with love, hope, and compassion. By walking the prophetic path together, we can become a healing balm for our troubled world and work toward peace, love, restoration, and transformation.
The 2023 Year in Review shares updates, highlights, and growth areas from each program at the Center for Action and Contemplation. It provides an overview of our financial and operational stewardship from this past year. We are so grateful for your support and partnership as we walk this path together.
2023 Year in Review: A conversation with Michael Poffenberger, Executive Director and Ben Keesey, Development & Partnerships Director.
“The prophet’s path is about letting go of illusion and toppling false gods. Prophets are disrupters of the social consensus. They keep humanity free for God and God free for humanity.”
– Richard RoHR
Michael Poffenberger, Executive Director, Tisha Ford, Deputy Executive Director for Production, Outreach, & Planning, and Chris Zezza, Managing Director, Digital Products & Operations with Fr. Richard Rohr.
Our Programs
The CAC has six core program areas that are designed to support inner and outer transformation in service to a more just and loving world. Our program areas include Daily Meditations and CAC Publishing, Podcasts, the Living School, Events, Online Education, and Movement Partnerships.
2023 CAC Programs: A conversation with Tisha Ford, Deputy Executive Director for Production, Outreach, & Planning, and Danny Torrance, Development Manager.
Daily Meditations and CAC Publishing
The Daily Meditations and CAC Publishing provide seekers with spiritual wisdom and contemplative practices that support transformation and inspire loving action.
The Daily Meditations are email reflections featuring Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) faculty, as well as guest teachers and authors, reflecting on the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition.
In 2023, we shared 365 meditations with our community of 380,875 daily readers and 425,656 weekly readers. Each quarter, a different CAC faculty member shared video reflections on the Daily Meditations theme for 2023, “The Prophetic Path.” This reflects our ongoing intention to feature multiple voices from the Christian contemplative tradition in addition to Richard Rohr. We also created a new “Practice with Us” webpage, a growing library of contemplative video practices. This proved extremely popular, with our Practice with Us videos being viewed 247,757 times by more than 115,000 people.
Throughout the past year, CAC published four issues of The Mendicant donor newsletters and two editions of ONEING, the CAC’s biannual journal of action and contemplation. The spring issue of ONEING included reflections on the theme of Transitions and the fall issue explored the theme of Falling Upward, which coincided with the release of the revised edition of Richard Rohr’s book of the same title. The bestselling book of the CAC bookstore in 2023 was Just This, a contemplative practice book by Richard Rohr inspired by his Franciscan spirituality.
Longtime CAC staff member Vanessa Guerin left the CAC after more than 20 years. Vanessa played a key part in the growth of CAC and we are grateful for her service to our mission. At the beginning of 2024, Vanessa handed off publication duties to Mark Longhurst, who now manages CAC publications as an integrated digital and print business area.
We invite you to explore three of the most read Daily Meditations in 2023 from our website and email.
Keep Changing
The great traditions always call people on a journey of faith to keep changing. There’s no other way this human personality can open up to all that God is asking of us.
Recognizing the Signs
Those of us who suffer from depression call it many things. The fog. The black dog. The darkness. The unholy ghost. We dance around it with metaphors and paint pictures of the pain with our words.
A Change of Consciousness
We are created out of love and are made to energize the world in love. Aging can be either a life of nostalgia or a wholehearted engagement with the future
“During 2023, I used the Daily Meditation to guide me on a pilgrimage to examine my past experiences. The CAC community has helped me climb out of my dark cave. I am learning to let the universe pull me back together into something new and precious. God is calling me to travel a new path; to places and people that need the presence of God. I pray I can continue to follow where my heart leads me.”
– JEAN Z., DAILY MEDITATIONS SUBSCRIBER
Print Publication of ONEING: Falling Upward.
CAC Podcasts
CAC’s podcasts serve as a gateway to the contemplative path by reaching new listeners around the world. Each series honors contemplative wisdom through teaching, practice, and relationship through format, structure, and theme in support of our teachers’ unique callings.
In 2023, we launched Everything Belongs, a podcast featuring Richard Rohr, CAC staff, faculty and guests on a journey to discover how to embody this wisdom in our daily lives, co-creating a world where everything and everyone belongs.
This past year, we were able to make our podcasts accessible to people affected by the justice system in prisons across 14 states. We have received many letters from incarcerated individuals about how these offerings are contributing to their transformation. One person shared “I wish I would have known about the Center for Action and Contemplation when I was at home, spiritually searching. This is the gateway to hope.”
Collectively, our podcasts continued to grow in listenership, with 30% more downloads compared to 2022. In total, our podcast network received nearly four million downloads from people across 187 countries and territories worldwide.
Click the podcast links below to listen to our favorite episodes from 2023:
Catching Up with Richard Rohr
Everything Belongs
In this inaugural episode, we focus on laying the foundations for future seasons by catching up with Richard and various staff members at the Center for Action and Contemplation to gain an understanding of how the CAC is evolving as we water the roots of Richard’s teachings while nourishing new growth at the edges.
Bonus: Bernard McGinn on Mechtild, Eckhart, and Mysticism
Turning to the Mystics
On this special bonus episode, James Finley and Kirsten Oates interview Dr. Bernard McGinn about Christian mysticism and how Cristian mystics guide us in living faithfully to the mystical dimensions of God’s presence.
An Introduction to Seven Stories
Learning How to See
How do you recount life’s biggest triumphs and failures? What about your deepest loves and biggest betrayals? In this first episode of the new season, Brian McLaren and guest co-host Gareth Higgins explore the power of storytelling to help create a more just and loving world.
Crisis
The Cosmic We
On the 4th season of The Cosmic We, we explore the themes of Dr. Barbara Holmes’ book Crisis Contemplation. Together, Dr. B and Dr. Donny explore ways we can apply it to the realities we face in our daily lives. This first episode is based on the themes of Chapter 1: Crisis.
“Like a lighthouse, Father Rohr’s books, podcasts, and Daily Meditations have been there for me, shedding light on life’s dangers and leading me to life’s solid ground. I’m grateful for every inspired word, sentence, book, and podcast he has shared and I’ve absorbed. Through his teachings, Father Rohr has taught me to trust a loving presence that’s here for all of us in this moment, the next, and all the moments of eternity.”
– SHARON D., PODCAST LISTENER
CAC’s organizational values.
The Living School
Founded in 2013, the Living School is the CAC’s spiritual formation program. Grounded in the transformative wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative traditions, its purpose is to equip students to work together for a more just and connected world.
In 2023, we began developing the Living School’s new one-year course with support from a robust internal staff team and an expanded faculty. The new course, Essentials of Engaged Contemplation, will introduce students to the essentials of engaged contemplation rooted in a living, evolving Christian tradition in a manner that is simple, accessible, and equitable. 500 students have enrolled in an Early Access version of the course that will run from January 2024 until January 2025. This allows us to assess the new material with a specially selected group of students before public release.
An important lesson we learned is the complexity of remote production, with teachers and staff heralding from different corners of the country. We also learned a lot about the financial needs, time and capacity constraints, and personnel needs to develop high-quality courses in a short period of time.
One of our biggest moments this year was the end of the final cohort of the 2-year program. We hosted the 2024 Symposium with the students for a time of learning, growth, and connection.
“Teachings from the Living School have opened me to see truths beyond the boxes that formed me. One day, while imagining kneeling at the cross, weeping for the physical torture Jesus experienced, it hit me that if God’s economy is love, there is no room for an eternal hell/torture. There is great freedom in this for me. Where fear is less, there is more room for love.”
– JAN T., LIVING SCHOOL STUDENT
CAC faculty member Dr. Barbara Holmes.
CAC Events
CAC hosts educational events throughout the year to support the integration of contemplation and action and to create transformational learning experiences for seekers.
In 2023, CAC again hosted virtual sit meditations on YouTube for advent and lent, and offered six successful online events that explored contemplation through the narratives that shape us, from trauma and healing to biblical patterns and everyday mystical wisdom. Our annual Turning to the Mystics retreat explored the teachings of Meister Eckhart and Mechtild of Magdeburg.
“I find myself in a liminal space. I take church services at different churches, yet, I still don’t fully belong anywhere – increasingly that’s ok. The only place I really feel I fit is in this community. I quote Father Richard constantly. And I love these stories – they make me feel I have a home and a people.”
– KAREN O., DAILY MEDITATION SUBSCRIBER
CAC Board Member Josephine Garnem.
Online Education
CAC’s online courses make the Christian contemplative traditions accessible to learners around the world. Each course is designed to help students learn, practice, and embody spiritual wisdom in their daily lives.
In 2023 we saw a 3% increase in registrations over the course of the year resulting from enhanced marketing and communications. We were also able to support the student experience by efficiently troubleshooting cases with more active teaching assistant engagement. The most popular online courses in 2023 were Breathing Underwater with 1,685 registrations, Immortal Diamond with 1,079 registrations, and The Franciscan Way with 889 registrations.
One opportunity for growth from this past year is to create more efficient and transformational learning experiences within our learning management system. Our goal is to increase opportunities for asynchronous/synchronous learning to better align with students’ schedules and create multiple ways for students to complete each course.
“Attending the online course Breathing Under Water gave me a completely new approach to my relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and my Christian Faith. Instead of fighting everything, I started to look for God in it all and have now entered a new broader, different place. There is no going back now as I journey with a bright sadness but a deeper joy and trust.”
– CAROLINE L., ONLINE LEARNING STUDENT
CAC staff member Izzy Spitz reading on a bench.
Movement Partnerships
Movement partnerships reflect a strategic choice we have made in how we pursue our mission that is grounded in our theological foundations, Richard’s lineage, and which recognizes that spiritual growth and transformation require multiple types of effort working together.
We continue to cultivate and grow relationships with aligned partners and organizations as we articulate a vision for CAC’s role in a healthy contemplative movement that supports our mission. This past year, we continued to support partners who are invested in creating opportunities for contemplative community and teacher formation. The Center for Spiritual Imagination is a great example of a partner organization who is offering ongoing formation along the path of action and contemplation.
We featured Adam Bucko from Center for Spiritual Imagination in the new Essentials of Engaged Contemplation Course in the Living School. We also deepened our partnership with Surge Network and their Neighbor’s Table project. Neighbor’s Table brings people from culturally diverse backgrounds together to share a table and invite people into boundary crossing love that leads to care for those that society overlooks.
We Conspire, our monthly email series featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement now has over 78,000 subscribers reading reflections from movement partners and Living School alumni who are role modeling engaged contemplation.
“One morning after receiving Communion, I realized this Sacrament was not my own treasured and personal connection with Christ, but that my neighbors were also my Communion. I saw that ‘personal holiness’ is a contradiction in terms, for there is no holiness separate from others, but only in solidarity with others in Christ.”
– ROSALIE K., DAILY MEDITATION SUBSCRIBER
CAC’s main campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
CAC Operations
The end of 2023 marked the CAC’s first full year of operations following Fr. Richard’s retirement from active leadership responsibilities. Throughout the founder transition process, CAC has made many strategic investments towards its five-year goals including building a mission-driven team, developing and enhancing CAC programs, and implementing values-aligned financial practices.
The 2023 Year in Review will feature key operational updates from our digital products team, CAC’s staff and culture, finance team, and will provide an overview of our financial resources and stewardship practices over the past year.
Operations and Technology
2023 was a foundational building year for the Department of Operations and Technology. We created a Director of Operations role to oversee planning architecture and make “the work of work” more understandable and efficient. We hired two new members of the team to fill our Web Product Manager and IT Operations Manager roles. We also promoted one of our CRM Admins to the CRM Product Manager position to oversee the CRM team and keep our interconnected digital platforms running and constantly improving.
With these staffing changes, The Department of Operations and Technology has established a solid foundation to continually improve upon, a reliable and accessible user experience for people who interact with our online ecosystem, as well as reliable technical support for our staff needs.
“The prophetic tradition sustains the eternal Word of God while the world spins around it, making God’s Word — Love — the center, the axle, the standard of everything the faithful do in the midst of the storm of change that engulfs us as we go.”
– SR. JOAN CHITTISTER
CAC’s Board Chair, Jeri Eckhart-Queenan, at the 2023 Living School Symposium.
CAC Staff
2023 was a pivotal year for CAC and the People Operations team. Our five-year goal of building a mission-driven team guided our efforts throughout the year.
We completed the first part of a compensation project to align our compensation philosophy and structure with our financial philosophy. Our goal is to ensure equity, transparency, market-competitive salaries, and above-market total compensation and benefits for employees. We also began a performance management project to provide clear expectations and continuous feedback to support staff in meeting our mission.
2023 was a recruitment-heavy year for CAC. We completed an overhaul of our recruitment and onboarding practices and filled a total of 11 positions, bringing our staff count to 42 employees. Some notable new positions were the Director of Mission Integration, HR Manager, Development Manager, and Director of Operations. These positions will help ensure the organization and employees have the support they need to succeed in their roles.
We also completed an org-wide restructuring to more effectively support our mission. Part of this included the creation of a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to help build a more structurally diverse leadership and mission-aligned team. We continue to partner with the Director of Mission Integration on our culture cultivation work to promote a culture where staff are supported and can thrive in the workplace.
“Our task is to mend the broken world. We do this through every act of loving kindness, every act of chesed. And we do this through every act of tzedakah, which is generosity, hospitality. It’s an offering of ourselves, even when it’s not convenient and not comfortable.”
– MIRABAI STARR
CAC staff and board during an all-staff meeting in October 2023.
Finance Team
Fr. Richard starts off a series of Daily Meditations about money with this powerful idea: “I’m convinced that money and soul are united on a deep level.” We believe that money has a way of illuminating who we really are in a deeply meaningful way. CAC embodies this ideal through our philosophy which seeks to align our financial practices with our deepest values, including how we raise, manage, and spend money.
In 2023, we continued this work by expanding our tiered pricing and scholarship program model to increase accessibility so that finances are not a barrier to participation in our programs. This is made possible by the generous support of thousands of our supporters. 15,753 people participated in our fee-based programs, supported by $508,402 in scholarship funds.
“Jesus was a ‘wholemaker,’ bringing together those who were divided, separated, or left out of the whole. He initiated a new way of “catholicity,” a gathering together of persons in love.”
– ILLIA DELIO
The courtyard on CAC’s main campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
CAC 2023 Financials
As a donor-supported organization, we are grateful for the generosity and support of the 38,000 people who gave to CAC this past year. With an average donation of $70, CAC’s generous donors gave a total of $8.3M to fund CAC’s programs, provide financial scholarships, and help us invest in technology and infrastructure to introduce more people to the Christian contemplative traditions.
In 2023, the CAC saw a 20% increase in the number of people making monthly gifts as a member of the CAC’s monthly giving community, the Bonaventure Circle of Support. We are especially grateful for the 1,099 people who joined the Bonaventure Circle this past year.
As we continue the process of financial discernment and stewardship, we are inspired by the trust of our supporters. In 2023, we once again received a clean, unqualified audit opinion from an independent auditing firm, affirming the quality of our financial controls and the accuracy of our financial statements.
If you would like to review CAC’s financial statements and stewardship practices in more detail, please visit our Stewarding our Financial Resources webpage.
| Sources of Funds | |
| Donations | $8,321,613 |
| Webcasts | $477,386 |
| Living School | $285,400 |
| Royalties | $349,333 |
| Online Education and Bookstore | $2,156,100 |
| Investment & Other Income | $289,411 |
| Total Support and Revenue | $11,879,243 |
| Use of Funds | |
| Program Services | $6,759,042 |
| Management and general | $3,483,057 |
| Fundraising | $742,680 |
| Total Expenses | $10,984,779 |
| Total Net Assets | $15,292,572 |
Fr. Richard Rohr sits under the trinity tree on CAC’s main campus with his dog, Opie.
2024 and Beyond
As we look ahead, our focus will be on enhancing CAC’s programs, expanding the accessibility and reach of our impact, making continued investments in CAC staff and culture, and aligning organizational structures to support our mission and 5-year strategic plan. To stay up-to-date on CAC programs, organizational updates, and opportunities for engagement, sign up for our monthly News from New Mexico newsletter or follow us on social media.
With a deep bow and heartfelt appreciation, we thank you for your support and partnership in 2023 and we look forward to walking the prophetic path with you for years to come.
“The prophets kept the word of God earthy. They kept it whole. They kept it real. They would not let us divide earth from heaven. They put heaven and earth together and they said, ‘It’s all one.’”
– RICHARD ROHR
Support
The work of the Center for Action and Contemplation is possible only because of friends and supporters like you. By introducing seekers to the Christian path of transformation, we believe that the CAC can become a catalyzing force for change of consciousness within Christianity and in each of our communities.
Your financial support of the CAC’s mission allows us to make the contemplative path more accessible — introducing more people to the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition, many for the very first time.
To support the CAC or consider making a legacy gift, visit cac.org/support.